Television currently suffers a serious adolescent crush on New Jersey, happily showcasing its housewives, manicurists, unemployed party animals, and now its history of slick, sophisticated organized crime. "Boardwalk Empire," adapted from the bestseller with the same name, shows Atlantic City's colorful jazz age history, paying fierce attention to realistic details and historical accuracy. "Boardwalk Empire" takes the Sunday night timeslot usually reserved for "True Blood" while the vampires go on hiatus, and with skilled assistance from Martin Scorsese, it so completely rivets its audience that they cannot remember what they used to watch after "60 Minutes." Like a complicated, sophisticated Victorian novel, "Boardwalk Empire" takes two episodes to set the stage and establish its historical context; but once the bootleggers, gangsters, and corrupt politicians get their machinery greased-up and going, eager audiences stay tuned. The New York Times effectively summarizes, "'Boardwalk Empire' is a well conceived, beautifully made series that has every reason to be great. Who doesn't want to watch rum runners and gangsters on HBO?" Mtv and E! will break-up with Jersey, and they will not "still be just friends" when new seasons roll around; but viewers can look forward to HBO's going steady with "Boardwalk Empire" until the vampires come home.

Slackers serving Satan as his bounty hunters? At a bare minimum, "The Reaper" does offer conclusive proof that colluding with the devil is considerably more exciting than a job at the Work Bench, a fictional Seattle home improvement store. Imagine Sam Oliver's surprise when he learns on his twenty-first birthday his parents negotiated a long-ago deal with the captain of the underworld: Save daddy's life, and they will give Satan their first-born child. Of course, mom and dad used every form of contraception imaginable until Satan released their doctor from his gambling debts in exchange for Doc's telling mom and dad they could not conceive. Sam ensues. Satan himself shows-up at the big twenty-first gala to detail "The Reaper's" new job description. Sam, who once complained that college "made him sleepy," naturally balks at the devil's deal; but the devil is at least as persuasive with Sam as he was with Eve. Satan tells Sam, should he decline, his mother forfeits her soul. Sam grudgingly accepts new super-powers and goes to work hunting down wayward sinners who have contrived to escape Hell. Television drama ensues. "The Reaper" earned an extremely devoted"”albeit somewhat cultish"”following. A representative review explained the attraction: "This show is so refreshing - great premise, great characters, and they don't take themselves too seriously. The Devil is a hunk, and just couldn't be played better than Ray Wise."

"I Hate Suzie" is a British television series that premiered in 2020. It follows the life of Suzie Pickles, a former teen pop star who is now a struggling actress. Suzie's life is turned upside down when her phone is hacked and compromising photos of her are leaked online. The series follows her as she navigates the fallout from the scandal and tries to rebuild her life.

Christina Hawthorne is the Chief Nursing Officer at a hospital in Richmond, Virginia who is a constant advocate for her staff as well as her patients, even when it may threaten her job. When the hospital (Richmond Trinity) closes its doors the staff moves on to James River Hospital, where the working atmosphere seems brighter. Hawthorne finds she also faces extra stress due to her changing relationship with Chief of Surgery Dr. Tom Wakefield (Michael Vartan from Alias, Monster-In-Law). Seems he wants a commitment from her but she may not be ready. Nurse Hawthorne is ably played by Jada Pinkett Smith (A Different World, The Nutty Professor) who also is executive producer of the show. Pinkett had sworn off doing any more television but found this one a perfect fit and an interesting challenge. Also starring in Hawthorne are David Julian Hirsh (Lovebites, CSI: NY) as Ray Stein, RN and also Suleka Mathew from Men in Trees, The West Wing as Nurse Bobbie Jackson who is Chief Nursing Officer at James River Hospital, and Christina Moore (90210, Burn Notice) portrays Nurse Candy Sullivan.

"The Handmaid's Tale" is a TV series based on a novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood. It takes place in a dystopian society called Gilead, where a fundamentalist Christian group has overthrown the US government and created a new society based on strict religious laws. Women are treated as property, and many are forced to become "handmaids," whose sole purpose is to bear children for wealthy families.

Very self absorbed, as are many surgeons, Dr. Michael Holt begins to question just what his purpose in life actually is when he starts "seeing" his wife again. The problem is that she is deceased. The degree of self confidence found in Holt and many other surgeons is a necessary part of the talent they must possess but the good doctor now doubts his sanity when the spirit of his ex-wife, who recently died in a car accident, begins appearing to him. Anna returns to convince Dr. Holt to keep a free clinic running. She had been the director of that clinic and was involved with many poverty level patients. Michael Holt however, is not so sure he can deal with the poorer patients as he's not used to that type of people. But there is no room for snobbishness in the medical field and the spirit of his diseased wife is there to see he learns that. Anna's sister Christina is a believer in supernatural events and is happy that her sister is back in Holt's life because she feels the doctor was a better person when his dead was with him. Patrick Wilson (The A-Team, Insidious) plays Dr. Michael Holt, Jennifer Ehle (Contagion, The King's Speech) is Anna Holt, and Christina is played by Julie Benz (Saw V, Punisher: War Zone).